Darius Rucker has called for forgiveness for Morgan Wallen.
Darius Rucker has defended morgan Wallen
The Hootie and the Blowfish singer insisted the country star has become a "better person" since his 2021 racism scandal - in which he was caught on camera using a racial slur to describe one of his companions when he arrived home after a night out - and believes the time has come for him to receive recognition for his music and huge success.
He told the 'Rolling Stone Music Now' podcast: “I think Morgan’s become a better person since that.
"“I’ve known Morgan a long time. Since all that happened, Morgan’s tried to really better himself and become a better person and see the world in a much better, better way.
"And you know, he’s not forgiven. He’s still not out for CMAs and ACMs. They can say what they want, but the fact that Morgan Wallen is not up for entertainer of the year and those things is crazy. No one’s selling more tickets than Morgan.”
After video footage of the incident circulated online, Morgan was suspended from his record label contract, removed from radio airplay and disqualified from the 2021 Academy of Country Music Awards.
The 'Last Night' later admitted there was "no excuse" for him using the slur and he was "mad" at himself for how much he had "messed up".
He said: "There’s no excuse. I’ve never made an excuse. I never will make an excuse.
“I’ve talked to a lot of people, heard stories [about] things that I would have never thought about because I wasn’t the one going through it.
"And I think, for me, in my heart I was never that guy that people were portraying me to be, so there was a little bit of like, ‘Damn, I’m kind of actually mad about this a little bit because I know I shouldn’t have said this, but I’m really not that guy.’
"I put myself in just such a s*** spot, you know? Like, ‘You really messed up here, guy.’ If I was that guy, then I wouldn’t have cared. I wouldn’t have apologised. I wouldn’t have done any of that if I really was that guy that people were saying about me.”